We capped a week of extremely busy and occasionally frustrating work by driving around the city for an hour, with a video camera pointing out of the passenger-side window. Does that sound un-safe? Well, we wanted a varied and unvarnished look at the city (which we would later edit into a montage for the climax of the show) so we did spend sometime in areas that made us feel … uneasy. [Read more…]

I’m working on some AVLT stuff and I’ve got some old Anthony Bourdain playing (courtesy of Netflix streaming service). He’s teaching a class and he decides to play an old chefs’ game with the students. (I’m no chef, but I’ve been in enough kitchens to have played the game several times.) It goes like this.

Tomorrow you die. You get one last meal. What do you eat? [Read more…]

We left Columbus on early Saturday morning with a bag-ful of goodies: granola, bananas, apples, organic lime & chili chips, raisins, peanuts, etc. The bananas were gone before the end of our 160-minute drive to Indianapolis. At that point, we had 4 more days ahead of us in a rental car, visiting family and big cities. Indianapolis, Chicago, Urbana (they’re not ALL big cities), back to Chicago, then we part ways and Acacia drives back to to Columbus while I fly to NYC.

Right away we faced challenges to our proud naturalistic eating tendencies. The occasion for our visit to Indy was a memorial service for Acacia’s dear, departed grandmother. The event itself was wonderful, with lots of off-the-cuff stories, sincere tears, and a eulogy from a man named Natty Bumpo that included the word pubis. Incredible. What a way to go.

There was, of course, a buffet of light snacks at the event. Options included tiny smoked salmon and turkey sandwiches, loaded-down, of course, with mustard and mayonnaise. (Do caterers and event-planning relatives really imagine that everyone on earth loves mustard and mayo? You’d think people would be disillusioned of that notion by now. But, I digress.) There were veggies with awful-smellin dips, and some dubious-looking mushrooms stuffed with creamed gorgonzola. Ick. There were bread and tortilla chips with other nasty dips, and lastly, little espresso cups, some filled with creme brule and the rest with chocolate.

So, sane-eaters, what did Acacia and I choose? Well, it was well before 6, never-the-less we were quite hungry, so we tried the salmon sandwiches (hence my discovery of the offending condiments) along with a pile of vegetables. I ate a ton of celery, I can tell you, and eventually turned to plain bread chips to keep me from losing my mind. As soon as the opportunity presented itself, I dashed upstairs for a few handfuls of granola and nuts. We made it through the afternoon, though, and were promised a large, fancy dinner. I opted to grab a pair of bananas and a slice of pumpkin bread at the Manon Coffee shop in the meantime.

Dinner was interesting. It was much after 6, and we were both really, really hungry. We were also promised a fantastic meal, in no small part because the sales manager and executive chef for the restaurant (which will remain unnamed) are in the family. Acacia and I chose responsible meals – lots of vegetables, a little bit of meat. We shared some mashed potatoes. I payed attention to the locally grown selections and chose the lamb. The lamb was all gone, however, so I picked the special, lobster, which turned out to be a poor choice.

So, Acacia and I were pretty happy with our decisions, and looking forward to our salads and sides of asparagus, when the table was suddenly filled with fried snacks and pulverized sea-food – tuna tartare smothered in sauce and served on tortilla chips, oysters deep-fried and covered in crap, and, of course, fried calamari rings. The chef had been warned that one of our companions was vegetarian, though, and she got a couple of fantastic little crostinis with preserves, chives, and artichokes. Jealous. I lost a bit of control and ate a few oysters and a bit of calamari. I was really up in arms, though, over the sweet potato pancakes with brussels sprouts gratin. Sounds awful, right? Not at all. Anyway, we weren’t that hungry when our food came, which is okay, cause the food was pretty mediocre anyway. I ate my crappy salad and all my asparagus before digging into the lobster mashed potatoes and the rubbery lobster itself.

So, in the final analysis, I think we did okay at that meal. We stuck to moderation and didn’t overdue it. We both remarked, though, on how bloated and weighty we felt afterwards, and the next morning. One of the things I like most about “sane” eating is that I don’t feel like I’m dragging my body around after I eat. Rather, I feel good, energized, happy, bright, downright peppy. Certainly, there’s joy in that “oh man I’m full” feeling you get after a good, big meal, say a hearty steak with mashed potatoes. But that’s a far cry from the “oh man I’m gonna die” feeling you get when you’re filled you’re body up with fried food and artificial crap and your digestive system fully intends to punish you for it. If you eat sushi, you probably know what I mean. I’ve always noticed that a big sushi meal leaves me feeling different than a huge meal of most other sorts.

Anyhoo .. right?

The next morning we were being treated to a “pizza brunch” at a restaurant owned by another couple of family members. It was a great, little joint, and the pizza really was good. We were able to find several options with just vegetables. The problem was that we really weren’t in the mood for another heavy meal. We filled up on fruit and granola as much as possible before-hand, but we were still persuaded to order too much food. Did you know that human instinct tells us to over-eat, since our ancient ancestors were never sure when the next meal would happen? So, they always ate as much as possible. That instinct gets us in to a lot of trouble these days, since we’re usually surrounded by an over-adundance of food. But, we kept our instincts under control and made sure to take home plenty of left-overs and let other people consume them.

There was one more unfortunate experience in Indy. I tried to go out and find us some good food to eat at home or in the car, but I had a hell of a time. I did find a place called “Nature’s Market” or something like that, but it was bullshit. They had all these “natural bulk foods”, mixes of nuts and fruit and whatnot, but every single one of them was enhanced with chemicals, high-fructose corn syrup, and the family of dextrins. Oh shit! I looked around for packaged items with fewer than 5 ingredients, or some vegan prepared-food options (vegetarian prepared-foods can still make use of heavy creams and such), but came-up empty. I walked around that damn store with an apple and two oranges in my cart.

I’ve been following Mark Bittman’s Twitter feed and there are all sorts of similar, concurrent movements afoot. I call it sane eating, some call it “lessmeatarianism”, some folks are “vegan before 6.” It all has to do with setting some simple, practical rules that you can live by 90% of the time and helping yourself to eat properly and sanely while giving yourself the freedom to take pleasure in food all the time.

So, practically speaking, what have we been up to these past couple of weeks? Have we been successful? What have we been eating?

We’ve certainly been successful at make changes and eating more healthfully. I don’t weigh myself, but I’m sure I’ve lost some weight. You know how it is, I notice which jeans fit better. I certainly feel better.

As for the food – we’ve been making a pot of beans each week, and a pot or two of grains. The beans have been adzuki and great northerns. For grains we’ve been playing mainly with bulgar and cous-cous.

Actually, I’ve fallen very, very deeply in love with couscous. It takes literally five minutes to make. Do yourself a favor and get one of these. It’s an electric water kettle; we use ours almost every day now. There are a bunch of fantastic grains, like couscous, that just need to sit in boiling water (with a little salt, and other spices if you prefer) for a few minutes, then get well-fluffed for serving. Fantastic. couscous is a god-send, really.

We’ve been eating a lot of brown basmati rice, too, which smells amazing, like buttery popcorn, when you cook it. So, between the rice, beans, and grains, I’m able to throw a bunch of stuff in a bowl, maybe grill some fresh veggies to go on top, or some soy nuggets from Whole Foods, and call it lunch. That’s what I do most days, alternating or augmenting with a bit of salad or hearty whole-grain bread with butter or all-natural peanut butter from our local Krema Nut Factory.

Now, I’m not that picky about what I eat during the day; I don’t mind a great deal of repetition, so this is enough for me. A slight bit of variation and I’m okay. I’m very practical about eating, I just wanna get my bellyful and check “eat lunch” of my to-do list. So its very helpful that the idea here is just to fill your house with foods that have low caloric density. That way you don’t have to waste time, energy, and emotion and figuring out what would be healthy to eat, you just whatever’s around until you’re sated. You won’t be able to overdo it on the calories or the fat or whatever you’re scared of, and as long as you have enough variety in your food choices, you’ll get plenty of the good stuff you need. Do your thinking when you’re at the store, or before you get there.

I know, I know, this isn’t exactly a philosophical revolution. But for a person in my lifestyle, who hasn’t devoted much thought to this stuff before, it’s a revelation. Seriously.

I’ve also been exploring sane eating at a small bunch of my favorite Columbus restaurants. I’ve tried my luck at wide range of establishments, from Banana Bean to Tip Top, from Planks to Nida’s. A couple of favorites have emerged.

Northstar may be the first place that pops in your Columbusite brain when someone asks you about healthy eating. (If not those GPS vitamin stores.) And despite their rising prices, I remain a fan. I’m particularly fond of the Buddha and Korma bowls, which feature long-grain organic brown rice and lots of veggies. I need to do a little research on what’s in those sauces, (Can anyone out there illuminate us on their contents?) but these are simple, straightforward meals that fill me up and leave me feeling bright and happy.

Benevolence Cafe is also been a frequent visit lately. I was already a big fan of their hummus sandwich, and it’s now found a regular place in my routine. They’ve got a slew of great vegetarian and vegan options, made fresh, with a menu that changes daily. No, they didn’t pay me to say that. I just really like the place. Again, it’s food that satisfies my cravings, and doesn’t make me regret it when I’m done.

Last but not least is On the Fly, the “street food” off-shoot of vegan mainstay Dragonfly. (Here’s a pdf of the OtF menu.) I’ve been chowing down on their empanadas occasionally, and am never disappointed. Selections change daily. And damn, dig those vegan chocolate-chip cookies! Again, I don’t know exactly what’s in the empanada dough, so a little research is called for, but I have a strong feeling that this stuff is healthier than another damn Hot Pocket.

I gotta say this has been pretty easy. I feel healthier, my skin has a rosy glow, and I get all those warm, fuzzy good vibes from doing good for the earth. Y’know what else I noticed? We’re producing a heck of a lot less trash this way. We’re buying so many vegetables and bulk foods that we barely have anything to recycle or throw-out. It’s great!

My dog’s even getting into the swing of things. Beckett’s a meat-eater, and our vet strongly advises against trying to change that. But she’s getting to love apples and bananas, and she’s also become a big fan of Krema’s peanut butter. It’s nice that the whole family can get in on in the fun.

And as my habits change, my tastes change, and my instincts change. It’s not as if we’re eating healthy 90% of the time and eating McDonald’s the rest of the time. All our choices are changing. It’s important to emphasize that once you start down this path, once you put the right foods in your kitchen, and once you educate yourself a little bit, it gets much easier to make good choices. I feel pretty proud of myself. A few people have found it astonishing – “YOU’RE on a diet?” And I just say, “Yeah, but it’s not a diet as in ‘I’m on a diet’, it’s a diet as in ‘I think about my diet’,” which is something we all need to be doing. It’s for our own good, and the good of our community.

I’m reading The Omnivore’s Dillema, and it’s bringing up all kinds of sadness.

Is it evolutionarily appropriate and therefore normal for us to eat other animals? Or is if something we’re meant to get past?

Cows make sad noises and look pretty pathetic. Is that me anthropomorphizing them? Or did they evolve those traits to eventually protect them from us?

Somehow, in my imagination, every cow about to be slaughtered is as lovable as my puppy. Is it unhealthy to think that way? Should I just get over it?

How do most people deal with it? Do they consider the meaning of eating meat and feel okay with it? Or don’t they think about it?

I once boiled lobsters alive. Obviously, I felt okay enough to slather them in butter and tear them limb from limb. Was that wrong? I certainly think it’s less wrong if you kill the beast yourself and take responsibility for it. If you’re gonna eat meat, you should occassionally know what it’s like to kill. Even if it’s just some fish or a lobster.